The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Vehicle article carriers are used in a wide variety of applications to support various articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle. In one specific implementation at least one cross bar is supported above the outer body surface by a pair of support rails. Typically the cross bar has an end support at each end thereof that is in some way coupled to one of the support rails to prevent the cross bar from moving along the support rails. In some previous systems the cross bar has structure that engages the support rail at predetermined locations along the support rail. It would be desirable to provide some form of end support for a cross bar that is able to be coupled at predetermined locations along a pair of support rails, but which cannot be locked to its respective support rail unless it is properly aligned at a predetermined longitudinal location on the support rails.